We are thinking about buying Alum-a-pole and I was hoping to get all opinions and experience with it. The jobsite we are on has very limited accessablity and on one side we can’t use ladders and ladder jacks.
Thanks
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tim....
we have used Alum-a-pole for at least 10 years... ever since a big OSHA crack down and fines all around southern RI... we were really grateful to have been coerced into making the move
we started with (3) 24' poles and jacks....and we already had a 24' Stinson aircraft plank
now we have about 8 jack /workbench set ups
4....24' poles
4....12' poles
2....18' poles
2..... 6' poles
4 of the 6' extension inserts
2..... 24' safety nets
we still have our 24' stinson...and a light duty 24" x 24' alum pic
we have 8 standoff brackets and two standoff brackets that we cut and welded to become about 42" standoff brackets
rounding this out we have Alum-a-pole pics, which are very heavy duty and designed to link end-to-end we have 3.....20" x 24' and 2..... 14" x 24'
we've bought both new and used... and you can get repair parts from alum-a-pole
some of the older AaP equipment has been improved over the years ... so the newer stuff works better than some of the original models
we generally set up as soon as the walls are sheathed.... then we use the set-ups for framing the roof, triming, windows, trim, siding , roofing, and painting
we let and encourage our subs to use the equipment also
Thanks Mike. I posted this at JLC also, and one of the siders was saying he doesn't like the way the brackets have to nail under shingles. Any thoughts?
Well you could screw it to the facia or do like the knuckle heads I have seen,nail through the asphalt shingles and patch with caulk. You wont be disappointed with alumapole. Its fast and safe. How you fasten it is up to you.
sometimes we fasten to the roof... sometimes to the siding/ fascia
on new roofs we flip the tab and screw thru the headlap... we usually put a piece of asphalt shingle under the flipped up tab to keep from tearing it on the bracket
on older, brittle roofs we screw thru the top of the shingle
install a piece of asphalt shingle as a wear pad... when we take it down we slip a piece of flashing under the shingle and caulk it in with roofing cementMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
tim.... our favorite fastener for securing the arms is a hex head 3/8 x 2 1/2 screw ... it's a cadmium screw we used to use for installing Kalwall 1 1/2" solar covers
i still buy them from Solar Components Corp in Manchester, NH.... they hold, penetrate, don't rust... stay sharp, the heads don't round over... they don't shear , bend, or snap...
and we watch them like a hawk so we don't lose them... we use them over and over.. some are still left over from 10 years ago
Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
We are thinking about buying Alum-a-pole and I was hoping to get all opinions and experience with it.
@@@
We love 'em. Compared to conventional scaffolding, they rock. We have some cutter bench fixtures optimized for their work bench area for running HardiePlank.
Seen siders using them in the Wet. Roll out the tar paper, apply siding, pump up, roll out the tar paper, etc.
Mike Smith has covered it well. In the NorthWet, make sure you have at least 12x12 of heavy ply under each foot. If the feet sink... issues. Perhaps more area is needed. We use 3/4 ply or heavier.
(From the radar maps tonight, it looks wet in the Northwet. Drought down here. Going to be in the 80s at the job site tomorrow.)
The ToolBear
"You can't save the Earth unless you are willing to make other people sacrifice." Dogbert
Love the stuff. Wish I could afford some.
I worked for a couple of guys, one that had Aluma-pole, one who had another brand that was cheaper. The cheaper stuff was bad...specifically said you could not use it when wet. Well now that's useful! But they were right, it slipped on the poles if you tried to adjust it when it was wet. Can't remember the name of the cheaper stuff off hand.
Aluma-Pole is really fast, easy and safe, though.
Steve
moogie
We have the Qual-Craft brand available in this area.
I was wondering if the cheaper version you were refering to was the Qual-Craft.
I would really like to take the plunge to aluminum pump jacks. We use wood poles now and I would like to upgrade.
Rich
Yes, that's the brand. They were troublesome in wet weather and not nearly as smoothly operating jacks. I personally would not buy them unless they have improved substantially from 5 years ago.Steve
I have got about $15K invested in Alumnapole. Great product. All of our jobsite have very limited space so they work out perfect. I would recommend the 24' poles and 24' planks. You get alot work out of that setup.
Bruce
the highest we've staged so far is double 24' poles ( 48' ) on a 3 story gable end
we find lots of use for our 6'. 12' & 18' poles too
with the 6' extender coupling we can get almost any combination we need
24'....30'.....36'.....42'.....48'
and those extended standoff arms get used on almost every jobMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Sounds like you have quite the set up. They are incredibly flexible.
The 24' poles work great for us because most of our project are on relatively level lots. We can get right up to second story soffits and cover most gable ends without any issues.
I just love how solid they feel. My dad had the old wooden pole pump jacks, so anything that does not dance like those feels like a granite platform.
Bruce
You pretty well maxed ot the height on them at 48'?
i don't know.... i'd have to go on line and see if they have a max ht that they recommned
could have something to do with the forces at the bottom of a 72' aluminum 4x4
i don't think i'd want to bid a job that got that high Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Funny story about them poles. Someone mentioned the good footing boards. Dale and I were doing a slate roof in FEB and the mud backfill was horrid, we had 2x12 blocks under the alumapole feet, but at some time during a warm up, we noticed we were sinking pretty fast.
We got down and tried to lift the pole, no way, it was 2' down, the roof brace was all that was holding us up ( in reality, we were on the roof, not the planks) well..we looked around and we had scaffold as well and the ele. hoist we used to load the slate up. So we cabled the pole and had the hoist on a spanned pipe on the scaffold.. hit the wind it up button and sucked the pole out, worked like a charm..LOL.
We did have to tell Grant we lost the pole foot in the mud, he was cool, and didn't charge us.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
yeah.. we backfilled a pole in about 4' of fill... finally dug it out.. but we lost the foot alsoMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
You have already gotten good feedback.
I'll just second the thoughts.
AlumaPole jacks are great and the extensions add to their flexibility. Their net makes a great place to stash siding cut offs, etc.
I will say that I have seen people spring for the poles, etc and then "anchor" the roof brackets with two, 1-1/4" roofing nails per leg bracket..............
I think that kind of defeats what the engineers had in mind........
Jim